Motorsports

Season 5 of Formula E racing promises to be the sport’s biggest yet, with the launch of an all-new, Batmobile-inspired spec racer that can- gasp!- go a full race without the need for drivers to swap cars. Another new twist in the Formula E saga for 2018-19 is increased manufacturer support– a fact that was underscored earlier today, Nissan unveiled the livery for its new race car at Geneva.

You can check out Nissan’s official press release for the new racer, below, which includes a great video about how Nissan took inspiration for the design from the Doppler effect …

Nissan Reveals Livery for its Formula E Debut Season

GENEVA – Nissan has taken the next steps toward its debut in the all-electric ABB FIA Formula E Championship by revealing its concept livery at the Geneva Motor Show.

At last year’s Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan – the world’s leading mass-market zero-emission vehicle manufacturer – announced it would debut in Formula E from season five which is expected to begin in December 2018.

As part of today’s announcement, Nissan unveiled its color scheme for the season five Formula E car, which features striking new aerodynamics and an entirely new battery and power train package. The livery for Nissan’s Formula E program was designed by Nissan’s Global Design team in Japan.

The Inspiration Behind Nissan’s Formula E Livery

“At first glance the season five Formula E car looked to our design team like an EV-powered supersonic bird in flight,” said Alfonso Albaisa, senior vice president of global design at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. “Naturally this initial reaction from the team started us on a path that captured a sense of a form breaking free of resistance and gravity. Formula E racers are virtually silent, with explosive speed bursts thus naturally we turned to Doppler when designing the livery. The combination of the sonic pulse of the Doppler effect and the released power of a sonic boom inspired our celebration of EV Racing!”

The new package provides more power, more range and eliminates the need for the mid-race car swap which has been used in the first four seasons of the championship.

“Nissan is proud to be an innovator in electric vehicles on the road with the Nissan LEAF completing more than four billion zero-emission kilometers around the world*,” said Jose Munoz, Chief Performance Officer, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. “Now, we want to bring that EV expertise to motorsport. The new Formula E car is being shown live in public for the first time this morning, and we’re very excited to reveal Nissan’s livery for our debut. The ability for Nissan to use this championship as a key development platform for our EV technologies and to be able to race in major city centers around the world makes it a perfect vehicle for us to showcase Nissan Intelligent Mobility.”

Nissan Intelligent Mobility is the company’s strategy to redefine how its vehicles are driven, powered and integrated into society.

While the new Nissan Formula E car livery was revealed for the first time today, work has been underway on developing the all-new technical package for many months as Nissan prepares for its debut.

Nissan is working with its partner Renault to leverage expertise and development already available, in keeping with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi automotive partnership’s focus on collaboration and maximizing synergies to boost competitiveness. Additional details, including structure and drivers, will be announced at a later time.

“Nissan is bringing a lot to the table with our expertise in EV technology for the road and bringing it to the race track,” said Nissan global motorsport director, Michael Carcamo.
“The level of competition in the Formula E championship is on the rise and we’re eagerly awaiting the unique engineering challenge ahead. We’re entering the championship on a level playing field this year with every manufacturer competing with a brand new car, battery and powertrain combination from season five.”

Season five of the ABB FIA Formula E championship is expected to visit major international cities including Hong Kong, Berlin, Zurich, Rome and New York. The new car that will debut in season five is scheduled to race in the Formula E championship for the next three seasons.

Further details regarding Nissan’s drivers and other technical and marketing partners for its Formula E debut are expected to be announced later this year.

Nissan Formula E 2018-19 | Official Photos

… which, yeah, I guess that’s cool. I’m not sure I’ve ever come up with quite such an elaborate explanation for using the gradient tool in Photoshop, but the corporate PR people have gotta eat, too, so here we are, talking about the Doppler effect. Heck, here’s a link.

Alp hopes to earn his place in those annals (huh-huh) by taking a sixty-eight (68) year old, 650cc, air-cooled, pushrod Triumph motor and boosting its output from 33 horsepower to more than 150. Enough, Alp hopes, to crack 200 MPH at the Bonneville salt flats.

Needless to say: Alp Sungurtekin is my kind of guy.

Alp Racing Triumph Speed Record Motorcycle

The bike’s styling seems to be influenced by something between hummingbird and peregrine falcon, but- as visually impressive as it is- the real aero trickery is in that front fender. Alp has named it the “Flex Fender”, and it is an inspired piece of tech. “The SCTA and FIM banned dustbin fairings a long time ago,” he explains. “I had to come up with something that’s as good as a dustbin, but would pass scrutinizing. So I designed a fender that’s separate from the main bodywork, but keeps the benefits of the (connected, banned) dustbin style.” The Flex Fender is flexible, obviously. As such, it can overlap the main bodywork and still turn with the wheel. Technically, it is separate. It moves. But, critically, it maintains the aero benefits of an integrated, fixed fender.

Does it work? In a word: yes.

So far, Alp has made four passes with the bike. Hitting 170 MPH and, “an official timed speed of 149 mph, despite not being able to get into its power band.” Which is impressive in itself, given how bad the surface conditions at Bonneville have been in recent years.

Impressive isn’t enough for Alp, though. He’ll be taking his Triumph-engined death trap motorcycle back to Bonneville again this summer, and doesn’t plan to come home without a 200 MPH timed run. Good on ‘im.

The Isle of Man motorcycle race (or, “TT”, for time trial) is the most pants-crappingly fast and dangerous race you or anyone you know has probably ever heard of. The 37-plus mile event sees racer from all over the world blast through small town streets mere inches from solid rock walls and tall curbs. Literally hundreds of riders have been killed during the years the event has been run– and hundreds more have been seriously injured. Of all the thousands of riders who have come to the Isle of Man, however, no man alive knows it quite like John McGuinnes- a racing legend who has won the event a staggering twenty-three times. To call McGuinnes a legend is almost a disservice, and calling him “a God among men” probably gives other religious icons too much credit. That’s where I’m going with this, anyway. The guy is tough, fast, and wily enough to live through an event like the TT many, many times … and he really seems to dig this new video game.

TT Isle of Man is a new video game for mobile platforms that’s set to debut next month. The game seems to do a credible job of reproducing the sights and sounds of the real thing, too. That’s just how it seems, sure, but I’m basing that on these two things:

The trailer (at top) looks just like the helmet-cam footage.

John McGuinnes got almost teary-eyed playing the game.

You can watch the actual game trailer, below, as well as McGuinnes’ reaction to playing the game below that. Check them both out, then let us know whether or not you think the game looks worth a couple of bucks in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!

As for the rendering car, itself, the Williams FW41 certainly looks the part- especially compared to more recent Williams efforts. Credit for that goes to Williams’ head smart guy, Paddy Lowe, who led Williams’ technical staff to many victories before going to Mercedes’ F1 team a few years ago. Mercedes, it should be noted, has done pretty well in recent years- so it might be safe to expect good things for Williams in 2018.

“It is very exciting to be giving everyone the first look at the FW41,” said Lowe. “The car has many new features, most of which are not all that obvious, but externally the team has pursued a very different aerodynamic concept which has allowed us some significant progress in aerodynamic performance.”

Lowe also revealed that a number of radical changes had been made to the car’s packaging compared to its predecessor in order to incorporate further developments from power unit suppliers Mercedes.

“All Formula 1 cars are an evolution of what has gone before to some extent, but the FW41 does involve a number of departures from the directions that have been pursued in the past,” he continued. “Overall, the philosophy we are starting to see emerge is a new approach to the collaboration between aerodynamics and design to achieve the optimum working result.”

Williams’ drivers, Canadian billionaire/F1 sophomore Lance Stroll and Russian rookie Sergey Sirotkin, will probably have a hard time getting the thing pointed right, given their inexperience and the relative fastness of Lowe’s previous creations. Time will tell, I guess. Until then, feel free to complain about Williams’ pay driver scheme in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

We’ll talk about the halo more down the road, probably. For now, however, I just want to bask in the glow of fresh Formula 1 news and revel in Haas’ latest car launch, which happened yesterday on Twitter. You can watch that, below …

Salvatore Asero posted a number of side-by-side photos of the 2018 VF18 and the 2017 Ferrari SF70H. They look pretty similar- especially in the sidepods, which is one area that Ferrari is almost universally believed to have found an edge in last season.

Given the commercial ties between Ferrari and Haas, it shouldn’t be a huge shock to see Ferrari’s ideas “make their way” over to Haas. Even so, eyebrows will be raised- especially by Red Bull, who was specifically told it could not share information with its junior team, Toro Rosso. Take a look at the pictures, below, and let us know what you think of the VF18’s visual similarity to last year’s Ferrari in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Like the automobile race held at the same track, the 24 hour race is a test of speed, skill, and- most of all- endurance. It is a tremendous test of reliability and durability, and the perfect place to display the progress Sarolea has made since that Isle of Man race in 2014.

As long as Sarolea doesn’t expect its riders to hop on and off multiple Manx 7s, Formula E-style, I think it’ll be fine. But that’s just me. What do you guys think? Does an electric stand a chance against the ICE bikes at LeMans, or is this a PR fluff piece to try to wrangle more investors? Let us know in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Series organizers hope the new car’s unique looks help the series to continue to grow and, ideally, improves the show through better racing. One thing that will definitely help, I think, is the fact that season 5 will see the drivers finish the entire race distance in a single car, instead of swapping cars mid-race (something that, I thought, only validated concerns about EV range anxiety to the outside world).

One thing’s for sure, according to Dilbagh Gill, team principal of the current season’s championship leader Mahindra Racing, is that removing the need to scramble from car to car is a positive step forward in making new or casual fans take the series more seriously. “I think, honestly, the only real negative thing that anyone can say about the championship right now is that we swap cars,” he says. “Once that’s gone? There will be no negative.”

The look of the cars certainly won’t be a negative, either. Don’t take my word for it, though. Check out the official Formula E renderings above and below, then let us know what you think of the new Season 5 race car in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

New Formula E Batmobile Race Car

The all-new “Batman” style Formula E car set to be raced for the 2018/19 will make its debut later this month according to FE’s CEO, Alejandro Agag. When it finally drops, the new car is promised to look “very different to any single-seater out there. It is futuristic and eye-catching.” I couldn’t wait for that, though, so I went out looking for a 2019 Formula E race car concept to get excited about- and the internet totally freakin’ delivered.

Formula E Race Car Concept by Spark Racing Technology

See what I mean? It’s amazing- and, while it’s hard to say how close this will actually be to the all-new Formula E spec racer, an incredible amount of work has gone into creating the 3D model. From the original model download page:

This model is maximally optimized for use in 3d games and VR. So you can easily import this model in your project without the need to change anything. The model also uses smoothing groups, so you can always increase the detail to the required level simply by applying a turbosmooth modifier. Divided into functional parts and grouped for easy editing and using in game engines.

I don’t know what all of that means, but it seems like the guys behind Spark Racing Technology’s model gave it a surface that’s made up of more than 11,000 polygons. I feel like that’s a lot, seeing as it’s nearly 3x as many as Sony and Playstation used for Gran Turismo 4.

Aston Martin president and CEO Andy Palmer said he was “encouraged” by the direction of the 2021 Formula 1 engine plans presented a few weeks ago. And, if Red Bull takes those engines, Motorsport.com analyst Lawrence Barretto believes, “it would make sense for junior team Toro Rosso to follow suit and allow for closer synergies that have since been reduced following the Italian team’s switch to Honda.”

In an interview, it seemed like Palmer agrees. “With all of this stuff in F1, you have to factor in intangibles because you’re talking about a marketing return, not necessarily a physical return,” he explained. “Marketing return hopefully turns into sold cars, which is why we’re doing this. This is to seed the soil for when we bring a mid-engined car to compete with the Ferrari 488.”

Aston Martin Valkyrie Concept | Red Bull RB12

I hate to be the one to mention this to Mr. Palmer, but if winning races sold cars then Lancia would be the selling car brand in the history of the world. But, hey- I love F1, so if that “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” crap is what’s gonna keep F1 alive I am all for it.

What about you? Do you think Aston Martin is making the right choice dumping millions into Formula 1, or are you going with the theory that F1 has been (and always will be) all about Ferrari? Let us know, in the comments.

Welcome to 2018, race fans! As the world’s fastest and most advanced hybrids, Formula 1 race cars have a special place in Gas 2’s digital heart. As such, the horrible, race-less winters weigh heavily upon us. That’s true. But, there is hope in this new year- and that hope burns ever brighter now that the official full-season schedule for this season of racing has been released!

You can see when and where that racing will take place using the handy-dandy schedule in the table, below. I’ve also included links to each of the grand prix’ wikipedia entries, so you can be better prepared to cheer on your favorite drivers on race day. Will 2018 fall to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton? Will Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel keep his head in the game? Will Fernando Alonso- freed from the shackles of Honda’s laughable engine woes- make it to number 3? Not long until we find out!

Imagine a world where motorsports, as we know them, are no longer feasible. Fossil fuels are too rare, too expensive, and Formula E is still doing that stupid car swap thing that makes the races feel fake and scripted. People still want- maybe even need- to race each other, though. Where will they be able to feed that need for speed? If they’re smart, they’ll head to New Zealand.

I first learned about New Zealand’s Skyline Rotorua attraction from this tweet by Silodrome, and I am hooked! The racing looks real, there are definitely skill-based advantages to be had, and the 60 km/h karts are definitely fast enough to help you sample the local Kiwis’ hospital food if things go sideways. Just watch this video of the record run at Skyline’s “advanced” track and see what you think.

Skyline Advance Track | Record Run

Did you watch that video? If you didn’t, you really need to in order to get a full sense of what I mean when I tell you that downhill luge racing really is should be the next big thing we talk about when it comes to sustainable motorsports. Formula E be damned!

The basic premise is simple: you put a bunch of gravity powered karts on a twisty track and let the Kiwis race dirty. It sounds almost too simplistic and stupid to be a thing, but it looks glorious. Add in the fact that New Zealand is in the Southern hemisphere- so it’s summer there, now, while Formula 1 is in its off-season– and you have all the makings of a fantastic treatment for Formula 1 withdrawals.

Don’t just take my word for it, though. Check out the video, at top, and some of the photos, below, and let us know what you think of the luge kart concept in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Even better- I’ll try to get my favorite of Kiwis, Walt to actually check out Rotorua’s advanced track and report back to us with some OC GoPro videos.

“I can emphasize it is the project for 2018,” VW motorsport director Sven Smeets said, in a recent interview with Motorsport. “For the future, we have to do well, and prove the concept is working with an eye to the future in the electric world in motorsport.”

Volkswagen will be joining Honda, Mitsubishi, Rimac, and others in the growing electric class at the historic Hill Climb event. Despite the heavy-hitting nature of its competitors, however, VW wants to do more than show up. VW plans to win. “For us it’s clear when we enter as a works team [it will] always be with cars very closely linked to the product on the road,” Smeets explains. “So, if we can call it e-WRX, it would be one of the first series we could have a proper look at because it would fulfill those requirements.”

Surely, Subaru will have something to say about Smeets’ proposed use of the WRX name- but this is about a race car, not blatant copyright infringement. Here’s hoping VW releases more info. and photos of its Pike’s Peak competitor soon.

Bob Glidden has passed away after a brief illness, at the age of 73. For those of you who are a little younger, or who don’t follow drag racing at all, your day will go on. The rest of us have been dealt a savage emotional blow, and will need you to be nice, because one of our greatest heroes has left us.

Drag racing legend Bob Glidden was, unquestionably, one of the fiercest competitors in the history of the sport. He scored 85 national level wins and won 10 NHRA Winston championships in a span of just 16 years against other legendary names like John Force and Don Garlits. Simply put, Bob Glidden dominated his era.

Better men than me will eulogize Mr. Glidden with more flowery words. They will speak of his devotion to his wife, Etta, and sons Billy and Rusty. They will write about his 1994 heart attack, and the determination he must have had to possess to come back from that, and win. They will talk of Ford all but abandoning Glidden, after he carried their flag almost single-handed for the better part of two decades. I will leave you, however, with the only thing that occurred to me when I read of his passing: fuck 2017.

Mazda has spent big money trying to find success in the IMSA endurance racing series in recent years. The scrappy Japanese company tried to find a loophole big enough to drive an innovative diesel race car through in 2013, but dropped that idea in 2016 after the diesel failed to meet expectations. For 2018, the team has a clever new gas engine, an all-star driver lineup, and super successful management. In other words: Mazda is out of excuses.

After winning four Le Mans victories with Porsche, Reinhold Joest’s team won eleven (11) more times with Audi’s dominant R8 diesel between 2000 and 2014. Joest lost some steam with Audi’s departure from the World Endurance Championship and have been looking for a works deal since, but hope to get up to speed quickly with the Multimatic-built Mazda RT24-P. To help their cause, the team has recently hired 26 year old GT racer Harry Tincknell to join Audi Team Joest factory driver Oliver Jarvis and Mazda regulars Jonathan Bomarito and Tristan Nunez. Former DTM drivers champions Rene Rast and Spencer Pigot will also drive at IMSA’s four 24-hour endurance races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, and Petit Le Mans.

“Mazda have had a very successful history in the States and Team Joest has won Le Mans 15 times, so it’s a very strong partnership, there’s no weak links,” Tincknell told Motorsport.com. “There’s a going to be a lot of competition, so there’s going to be no hiding place and we’ve got to get up to speed quickly.”

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The content produced by this site is for entertainment purposes only. Opinions and comments published on this site may not be sanctioned by, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sustainable Enterprises Media, Inc., its owners, sponsors, affiliates, or subsidiaries.

The content produced by this site is for entertainment purposes only. Opinions and comments published on this site may not be sanctioned by, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sustainable Enterprises Media, Inc., its owners, sponsors, affiliates, or subsidiaries.